10 minutes
Pienza
The ideal Renaissance town Pope Pius II built in the 1460s, on a ridge above the valley. Best at dusk, once the day visitors have gone.
Ten minutes from Pienza.A long way from everything else.
Velatura sits on its own hill in the Val d’Orcia, the UNESCO-listed valley between Siena and Monte Amiata. Pienza is ten minutes by car, Montepulciano and Montalcino are close enough for lunch, and Florence and Rome are an easy morning away.
01On the map
Between San Quiricoand Pienza.
The house is off the road between San Quirico d’Orcia and Pienza, at the end of two kilometres of white road. We send the exact directions and a pin with your booking confirmation.
- Pienza10 min
- San Quirico d’Orcia12 min
- Bagno Vignoni15 min
- Monticchiello15 min
- Montepulciano25 min
- Montalcino35 min
- Chiusi station35 min
- Siena1 h
- Perugia airport1 h 15
- Florence airport1 h 45
- Rome Fiumicino2 h 30
- Pisa airport2 h 30
02Getting here
By air, by train,by the white road.
Most guests fly into Florence or Rome and either hire a car or let us collect them. Tell Chiara your flight numbers and we will meet you at arrivals.
By air
Florence Peretola is an hour and three quarters away and Rome Fiumicino two and a half hours. Perugia, with flights from London and a few European cities, is an hour and a quarter.
We collect up to seven people in one car from Florence for €320 and from Rome for €460, each way.
By train
Chiusi-Chianciano Terme is on the main line between Florence and Rome, with regional trains from both cities in about an hour and a half. We collect you from the station for €70.
By car
From the north, leave the A1 at Valdichiana; from Rome, at Chiusi-Chianciano. From Siena, follow the old Via Cassia south to San Quirico d’Orcia and turn towards Pienza.
There is parking for six cars at the house and two 22 kW chargers for electric cars.
The last two kilometres
A white gravel road leads from the tarmac to the cypress drive. Any car can manage it; take it slowly and enjoy the view. After heavy rain we come down to meet you in the estate’s four-wheel drive.
03Nearby
The towns you willkeep going back to.
Pienza for its bakeries and the evening walk along the walls, San Quirico for the Horti Leonini garden, Bagno Vignoni for the warm water at the end of the day.
12 minutes
San Quirico d’Orcia
A walled town on the old Via Francigena, with a Romanesque church and the clipped hedges of the Horti Leonini.
15 minutes
Bagno Vignoni
A village built around a square of steaming water, used since the Romans. The free pools are just below it.
15 minutes
Monticchiello
A tiny walled village with a summer theatre written and acted by the villagers every July.
25 minutes
Montepulciano
Vino Nobile cellars under the streets, and the Piazza Grande at the top of a very steep main street.
35 minutes
Montalcino
The hill town of Brunello, its fortress and its wine bars, with the abbey of Sant’Antimo in the valley below.
04The weather
When to come,month by month.
The house is at about 450 metres, so summer nights are cool enough for a blanket. Average temperatures in the valley, in °C.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | 9 | 10 | 14 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 25 | 19 | 13 | 9 |
| Night | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 2 |
March to May
Green and wild
Wheat fields bright green, poppies in May, cool mornings and warm afternoons.
June to August
Long and golden
Hot days by the pool, harvested wheat, dinners outside until midnight.
September and October
The harvest
Grapes, mushrooms and the first truffles. The best light of the year.
November to February
Mist and fires
New olive oil, fog in the valley at dawn and the spa to yourselves.
We will meet you
Fly in, drive up,switch off.
Tell us how you are travelling and we will arrange the rest.